Elves
The Elves are one of the 8 factions from the Smash Up: Munchkin set. The Elves focus on helping others to help themselves. Cards The Elves have the usual 10 minions and 10 actions. The total minion base power (not counting any abilities) is unusually low at only 27 or an average of 2.7 per minion compared to the usual 30 and 3. Minions 1x Fae Fighter - power 5 - Ongoing: After another player plays a minion, you may place a +1 power counter on it to place a +1 power counter on one of your minions here. 2x Lord of the Prance - power 4 - Talent: Another player of your choice draws a card. Draw a card. 3x Flower Child - power 2 - You may give another player control of this minion until it leaves play, to take control of one of that player's minions of power 3 or less until it leaves play. 4x Elf Help Guru - power 2 - Talent: Give all other players' minions here +1 power each until the end of the turn. Actions 1x After You - Each other player draws a card. Draw a card for each player in the game, including yourself. 1x Dancing Root - All players shuffle their discard piles into their decks. Draw a card. 1x Helping Hands - Special: Play before a base scores if you have a minion there. Choose another player. That player gets +2 total power; your minion gets -2 power (minimum 0). If that player is the winner, you get one of that player's VPs. 2x Pumping Iron - Choose another player. That player chooses a minion to gain +2 power until the end of the turn. You choose a minion to get +3 power until the end of the turn. 1x Run Away More! - Special: Play before a base scores. Move any number of your minions from that base to another base. 1x Run Away! - Special: Play before a base scores if you have a minion there. Move one of your minions and another player's minion from there to another base. 2x Trade - Draw a random card from another player's hand and place it in yours, then place this card in that player's hand. You may play an extra action this turn. 1x Traveling Elf - Play on one of your minions. Talent: Move this minion to another base. Bases * Helper's Hollow * Treehouse Clarifications Here are the official clarifications as they appear in the Smash Up: Munchkin rulebook: Dancing Root: Cards are discarded after they are resolved, so Dancing Root is not shuffled in. Flower Child: This card and the minion swapped with it have no connection: when one of them leaves play the other one is not given back. Flower Child cannot swap with a monster, unless it is controlled by a player. Helping Hands: Losing a VP does not affect any cards, so cards like Too Tough do not block the loss. Lord of the Prance: '''“Monsters” is not a faction, so you may not choose it. '''Pumping Iron: Neither player is required to choose one of their own minions. Mechanics Elves give other players advantages in ways that when used properly end up favoring themselves much more. All of the ongoing benefits Elves bestow are optional on your part, and need to be used selectively. This makes them more useful with more players, as you can choose to help the player who stands to gain the least. As an extension of Elf abillitites needing to be used oppertunistically comes many elve abilities that only benefit you circumstantially (making other players shuffle their discard piles, all of them gaining plus 1 power, etc). Elves are particularly good at drawing cards (both you and your opponent). which comes back to favor them through Trade, taking good cards from their opponent. Trade '''also favors Elves as so many of their own cards are circumstantial, and stealing from others helps them more than it would help their opponents to steal back. This is a mechanic that comes back as well in '''Flower Child. Elves also have a decent amount of specials that are only to be played when they benefit them, furthering Elves circumstantially amicable nature. FAQ Fae Fighter: Q: A: Rule: ---- Lord of the Prance: Q: A: Rule: ---- Flower Child: Q: Does Flower Child have to be played on the same base as the minion you want to swap it with? A: No. Flower Child can be played on any base and be swapped with a minion of power 3 or less on any base. Rule: Do exactly what the card says. Q: Another player has Flower Child. I play Copycat, copy Flower Child's ability and give control of Copycat to another player. Normally the control of Flower Child is definitive (i.e. it doesn't expire at the end of the turn like the Kitty Cats do), but Copycat sets a deadline, so at the end of the turn, I get Copycat's control back, right? A: No. Copycat's deadline determines how long it keeps the copy of the ability, but it doesn't change Flower Child's ability original deadline. Rule: Do exactly what the card says. Q: If another player took control of one of my minions (e.g. Make Contact, Flower Child), can I use Spreading the Word and play extra minions with the same name as that minion (supposing I don't have one already in play)? A: Yes. The extra minions can have the same name as any player's minion in play, not just yours. Rule: "A minion" means "any minion in play". Q: If I take control of an opponent's minion (Kitty Cats, Flower Child), can I use Sacrifice on it? A: Yes. If you have control of it, then it's one of "your minions" and is therefore an eligible minion for Sacrifice. Rule: "Your minion" means "any minion you control". Q: An opponent takes control of my Gremlin (Flower Child, Make Contact). If it is destroyed while they still have control of it, do I draw a card? A: No. Under the control of another player, the card treats its new controller as if they had played it. So "you" on the minion would designate its current controller, and an other player would be any player that is not the controller. So, if Gremlin is destroyed, its new controller draws a card and all other players (you included) discard a random card. Rule: "You" on a minion or action means the controller of the card. Q: When I play Flower Child on a base with an enemy Bag of Caltrops, Imperial Dragon, and Hatchling, and choose to give it to that player (without taking control of any of their minions), does it still trigger their cards? A: Yes. These cards are triggered when another player plays a minion, which you did, even if that card changed controller. Rule: Do exactly what the card says. Q: I play Flower Child on a base with an enemy Imperial Dragon and take control of it. Is Imperial Dragon activated? A: No. Imperial Dragon is activated after a minion play, but at that time, it's already in your possession and isn't activated because none of the other players played Flower Child. Rule: Do exactly what the card says. ---- Elf Help Guru: Q: I use Elf Help Guru's talent. Elf Help Guru is then removed from play or has its ability cancelled. Do the minions lose their boost? A: No. Even if Elf Help Guru is no longer in play or loses its ability, the +1 power persists until the end of the turn. Rule: "Until the end of the turn" means the effect persists even if the card is removed from play. Q: After using Elf Help Guru's talent, I move it to another base. Do the minions on the former base lose their boost and do the minions on the new base get it instead? A: No. The power boost was given to the minions when you used the talent and it sticks with them. Rule: Do exactly what the card says. Q: After using Elf Help Guru's talent, I move another player's minion there to another base. Does the minion lose its power boost? A: No, it keeps it even if it's moved to another base. The power boost was given to that minion when you used the talent and it sticks with it. Rule: Do exactly what the card says. Q: After using Elf Help Guru's talent, I play or move another player's minion to Elf Help Guru's base. Does the minion get a power boost? A: No. The power boost was given to the minions present on Elf Help Guru's base at the time you used its talent. Any other minion won't be able to get it. Rule: Do exactly what the card says. ---- After You: Q: A: Rule: ---- Dancing Root: Q: I suppose all players draw a card, right? A: No. Only you draw a card, because the card addresses you. Rule: "You" on a minion or action means the controller of the card. ---- Helping Hands: Q: If after playing Helping Hands, the chosen player ties for first on that base, do you still get one of their points? What if you are also tied for first? A: You still get one of their VPs. Even if there's a tie, they are still considered a winner. Rule: Do exactly what the card says. ---- Pumping Iron: Q: A: Rule: ---- Run Away More!: Q: A: Rule: ---- Run Away!: Q: A: Rule: ---- Trade: Q: What happens when I play another player's minion obtained with Trade? A: You play it on a base, resolve its abilities from your point of view and keep control of it. Rule: When a player plays a card, they become the card's controller. Q: What happens when the card obtained by Trade leaves play? A: It goes to its owner's hand/deck/discard pile (whatever is appropriate). Rule: When a card leaves play, the card goes back to its owner's hand, deck, or discard pile. Q: I obtained a card through Trade. If an effect tells me to shuffle my hand into my deck (Mulligan, Winds of Change) or place cards from hand on the bottom of my deck (Field Trip), what do I do with the Traded card? A: It goes into your deck, not its owner's deck. TBD Rule: TBD ---- Traveling Elf: Q: A: Rule: Trivia * A Warrior is present behind the Lord of the Prance. * An Orc is present behind the Flower Child. * The Dancing Root is a reference to Groot from the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. * A Dwarf is present in the Helping Hands card. * Halflings are present in the After You and Pumping Iron cards. Category:Factions